Historical Society Receives North Baltimore Photos from 1910 – 1922

Jim Bucher recently loaned 32 circa 1910-1922 photos to the North Baltimore Ohio Area Historical Society (NBOAHS). The photos were made from glass plate negatives. Over 30 years ago, Frank Hemingher found the glass plates in the old Exline family residence on North Tarr Street. Hemingher then gave them to Bucher, an amateur photographer, who made the photographs from the glass negatives in his home photography darkroom. The photos’ subjects include winter scenes, the construction of the Exline Building on East Walnut Street, rural Henry Township sites, Exline family members, and other topics.

Historical Center volunteers scanned the photos into to the Society’s digital archives. The photos were then returned to Bucher who wished to retain them in his private collection. Although the Society does not have the original glass plate negatives, the digital photographs are a very valuable addition to the Society’s archives. Each of the 32 photos provides some new information on what North Baltimore and its residents looked like 100 years ago.

The NBOAHS is always looking for local historical pictures. Please consider loaning any photos in your family or personal collection to the Society for scanning into its archives. All photos will be returned to you once a digital copy has been made.

In this circa 1910 winter scene a man holds a horse pulling a sleigh at the bridge over Rocky Ford on East Water Street. The tall cylindrical structure in the background is the water tower which once stood at the old North Baltimore water plant on High Street. It was torn down in the late 1930s.

Looking east, this was the corner of East Walnut and North Tarr Streets before the construction of the Exline building in 1910. Several of the buildings shown in this wintertime photograph no longer exist including the house in the foreground.

In this summertime photograph, three young girls are pushing baby carriages on East Walnut Street past the Exline building then undergoing construction. The delivery truck door says “Swartz and Sewell, Moving and Draying, No. Baltimore.” East Walnut Street does not appear to have been paved when the photograph was taken.

Masons are in the process of erecting the Exline building’s brick walls. Notice the large stack of bricks in the center of the construction site and the wooden ramps leading to the scaffolding along the walls.

This photo shows the Exline building shortly after it was finished. Adam Exline and his son William used the building for their machine shop business. A gasoline pump originally stood in front of the building.

The building contained drill presses, lathes, and other machines used in the Exline business. Calendar pictures of young women decorate the walls, something quite typical in the very masculine environment of a 1910 era industry.

In this December 2014 photo, the barn just south of the Exline Building still stands, but has been greatly modified in the last 100 years. The house located on the west side and the sheds on the east side of the building are now gone. The Exline building has been used as a food pantry in recent years.